A Hand Forced
by AkiraNight
Summary: He is forced to return to the place that he wanted to leave behind...what is he to do now?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto….there I said so could you stop pointing the guns at me.

Two figures raced through the forest towards a village surrounded by gates. The figures soon slowed and landed on a branch concealed from the village's view.

"It seems so peaceful," A female voice remarked from behind a golden dragon mask. Her blonde hair put up into buns. "Considering there is a war waging just miles away."

"Well..." A male voice stated from behind a golden fox mask, blonde hair shadowed his eyes. His unwavering gaze fell upon a mountain that symbolized the best Kohona had to offer. He briefly inclined his head to the newest face on the mountain. "We better go ruin the peaceful demeanor."

"Do you think Garra sent a message to the Hokage?" The women turned to her male companion with a questioning glance.

"It doesn't matter if he did or didn't we are here to make sure they know what's heading their way." He jumped down and was followed by companion. "Although I suspect they know where coming." With that the two figures took off towards the gate, and were shortly followed by two anbu. The two figures smirked to each other as they realized how unexpected their visit was and how much trouble they had caused. While the male was starting to have misgivings about the village. "Temari make sure not to kill the lazy ass while we are here, because we need that treaty at the moment." He whispered into the radio built into his mask.

The answer that he received started to make some of the tension he was feeling die down. "I won't do anything, but that doesn't mean Garra won't when he sees him." He started to chuckle to himself as he imagined Shikamaru running from Garra's sand. "And Naruto, don't kill anyone while we are here."

He chooses to remain silent as they reached the gate, and much to their relief was opening for them. But that relief was short lived when they saw a group of Anbu and Jounin, and most surprisingly the Hokage. With a quick glance around they notice that were surrounded.

One Anbu stepped forward and posed such a simple question, but the answer could easily get the two killed. "State your business with this village."

"We have an urgent message from the Kazekage to the Hokage of the Leaf." Temari replied from behind her mask.

"How-" The Anbu was cut off as the Hokage stepped towards the two sand nin. "Can you prove to us that you are from the Sand?" With that the male Sand nin produced a scroll form his pocket.

"This is the scroll baring the seal of the Kazekage." He then stepped forward and held the scroll out waiting for the Fifth to take it. All the while he went down in to a kneeling position in an attempt to show that he didn't mean any harm. The Hokage began to probe the scroll with her chakra checking for any traps. Once she was done she nodded her head to the Anbu directly behind the two nins.

"This gives you passage into the village, but when we reach the office I want you to explain to me exactly why you two are here." She then turned toward the gates and started to walk into the village. "Follow me, and put that scroll up for the time being."

The group set off towards the Hokage's Tower at a fast pace. They walked down a crowded market street. The people of the village stared at the precession with wonder. After all it wasn't every day tat their Hokage and a few Anbu escorted foreigners through the village. Some of the younger children followed behind sheepishly, wanting to greet their Hokage, but afraid to actually do so. Soon the precession arrived at the Tower, but instead of going in they stopped outside. "All Jounin are dismissed," and with that they continued into the building with out a few of its original members.  
Temari briefly glanced over the villagers as she approached the Tower. She realized something had changed in their demeanor. Although she couldn't quite figure out what had changed, she wondered what had caused the change. As she looked over to her friend she noticed how his presence had changed. When they first arrived he had started to become more uncaring and more distant. However she wasn't able to think to deeply on the subject, because her thoughts had just been interrupted by the Hokage.

A/N: Slow chappie sorry about that well until next time see ya all later.


	2. Chapter 2

A Hand Forced

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…

A/N: I decided to double space this chapter, but I don't know why I just had the urge. My other Naruto story should be posted by Saturday. My Word subscription ran out and I just got another. YAY

The group of five Anbu, two Sand nin, and the Hokage were now on their way to the Hokage's office. As they went through the various hallways in the Tower the employees didn't pay them any heed. Soon the group arrived in front of the Hokage's office, but the silence was not broken even as the group filed into her office. The Hokage went straight to her desk and opened up a drawer, she carefully brought out three sake glasses and a bottle of sake. She began to pour the sake in all one of the glasses. The silence all the while was starting to wear thin on the two sand members. Before the Hokage could continue to pour the sake in the second glass she was interrupted.

"Hokage, I apologize for being so pressing with this issue but-," Temari was cut off by the other Sand member.

"Sand has been attacked and request assistance." He stated in an almost neutral voice, he barely betrayed his worry. The Hokage then sent a questioning look towards him wondering why he could be so calm while talking about an attack on his village. In answer to her unasked question he tossed the scroll at her and told her "It's all in there and we will try to answer any other the questions you ask. However I can not guarantee we have the answer."

The Hokage then opened the scroll and started to read it. Her eyes betrayed the concern she felt for her allies, and she knew that she couldn't deny their request for help. There was something troubling about the scroll and its writing, and Hokage started to worry for her village as well. These nin that attacked Suna seem to come with know clear objective, but they still made it close to the cities walls. The scroll claimed that the nins wore no symbols for their village, and then the scroll just stopped with his signature and the seal. The lack of information on these new enemies concerned her more than she could say. "This scroll isn't very descriptive. Do two know anything that might help us assess these enemies?"

"When they arrived it was like lightning, there were sudden attacks but within a few minutes span they would be gone. Just enough time to get a quick estimate on the reaction time of our Nins and their skills." The fox masked Sand Anbu announced. "It seemed like they were testing where the best place to attack would be, but then we began to think why they would warn us of there presence. They had to realize we would tighten our security once we realized we were in danger of an attack. The attacks continued a few hours before we finally left. Garra had asked a younger Jounin to go before us, but he came back bloody. So we handed our job of escorting the villagers off to someone else and came here as quickly as we could. We ran into a few problems, but," With a look at his partner he continued. "It wasn't anything we couldn't handle."

"Kazekage-sama also stated that he would send word however he could to the Leaf to update them on the situation." Temari picked up where her teammate had left off.

"I understand, although I wish there was more information on these attackers. But information isn't always available in situations like this." The Hokage then nodded her head towards one of the Anbu and then a door could be heard as he left the room. She then leaned back and finished pouring the sake. "Now while we are waiting for the last member of the Anbu squad that will be accompanying you back to Suna, I have a request for you." With a nod from both the sand members she continued. "I would like to know why Garra trusted you to enough to deliver the message to me."

"Garra trusts me more than most of his lead officers," She announced while glaring humorously at her companion. The Hokage couldn't have sworn she heard something like 'He just can't get over that I can beat him when we play poker.' A giggle was heard in response from Temari, and the Hokage then knew she had heard right. "And there is also a very good reason Garra trusts me so much, besides the fact that I don't cheat at poker I am his elder sister." With that she smiled at the Hokage and took off her mask. The level of killing intent rose in the air; the cause for this was the Anbu right next to the Hokage's chair. Temari turned and smiled at her as her friend glared at the female Anbu behind the mask.

"It's good to see you again Temari, and this time I sincerely hope that you don't send our lead strategist into the hospital." The Hokage laughed as she noticed the young girls eyes got a mischievous glint in them and turned her gaze to the man standing next to her.

"I don't think he is going to have to worry about that anymore," Temari smirked as she said the last part. "I have someone else to send there now." The killing intent in the room immediately went down, and the form of the Anbu standing next to the Hokage relaxed a bit, but still held its battle ready pose.

"Hn…like you could," Just like that the killing intent from Temari became aimed at the speaker, who in turn seemed to be oblivious to it. "First the reason why I was sent here with Temari is because I am second to the top Anbu that sand has. And that is only because my patience level with missing nins isn't the best. The current leader of the Anbu gave me a name the day I enter the Anbu, a name that has stuck with me since 'Karma'."

A/N: Will someone review and tell me what they think of this story? Cause it was just an idea I came up with during school so yah….PLEASE….


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Preparations

Disclaimer: la la la la la…….oh yah I don't won Naruto.

A/N: Yep it's a day late so I am sorry.

------Recap------

"A name that has stuck with me since; Karma."

Chapter begins

"Interesting name," The Hokage commented while looking at his mask expecting him to take it off. "Is it a custom to give names to your Anbu?"

"It's something the game for the Captain," Temari stated smiling. "You see he gives names to those he thinks have been cheated in their names."

"Cheated how?" The Hokage asked leaning forward clearly interested.

"How ever he sees fit, like if the name describes something you aren't and never will be, or if undermines you." Temari then started to walk to the other side of the room. The few leaf became alarmed and their battle stances were ready for anything. However the Hokage continued to smile at the younger nin. Temari then grabbed the chair that had been sitting on the side of the room and brought it in front of the Hokage's desk. Realizing their mistake the Leaf nins instantly relaxed. Temari who enjoyed the show set down with a smirk on her face.

"So how were you cheated?" The Hokage posed the question while shooting a look at the still masked Anbu.

"Hokage I understand you are trying to make polite conversation," Karma continued while ignoring the glances from his partner. "But that conversation isn't relevant to the mission at hand. My village has been attacked and I want to go and fight, but since Garra sent me on this mission I can't defend my village at the moment. And at the moment you are the one standing in my way from returning home. Was that enough information for you?" I am starting to press my luck, and these Anbu seem pretty protective of obaa-chan. And considering these are the ones that are going to help us fight against those bastards, maybe I should be a little more polite. The thought circled in his head for a few seconds before he came up with the answer. Hell no. He then glanced around the room looking at the Anbu within his sight. The one standing next to the Hokage wore a tiger mask; the one leaning against the wall to his left wore a hawk mask and the one to his right leaning against the wall wore a bear mask. He couldn't see the other one but he knew that the Anbu was standing a few yards behind him.

"I understand completely but I was just trying to gather a little information about you." He has spirit, and topping that off with his protection of Suna can't necessarily be a good thing for us. Her outside appearance portrayed nothing of her inside thoughts. She smiled as she took a sip from her drink. "Call it curiosity if you will, and since I already know a few things about Temari I decided to turn my attention to you." She picked up one of the cups and walked around the desk and handed it to him, as a silent challenge. She then went and grabbed the other cup for Temari. Temari gladly accepted it, she needed the drink after what see went through the last few hours. "So I guess it's down to business now?" Tsunade sat back down in her chair. "A group of six Anbu will be going with you. These Anbu will be helping you in whatever way they can. As soon as they get there I want them to send me a bird telling me about the conditions you arrive in. That way I will be able to know if more leaf nin are needed. Once Garra no longer requires your help I want them back her and I would also like to have you two back here if I could." She said the last bit in a tone that was meant to be obeyed. "I also want hourly updates on the progress. You are dismissed."

Karma turned around to see the two new presences in the room. He had sensed the two when the Hokage had started to talk about the mission, but what shocked him was how one of the Anbu reacted to seeing them, or namely Temari.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…..

The owl masked Anbu took a glance around the room and his eyes settled on Temari. He then walked back out of the room muttering something about not going back into the hospital because the nurses are mean. Although he didn't remain in the hallway for very long, the dog masked Anbu that came in with the owl went out into the hallway. Moments later a struggle could be heard, and the two Anbu came back in. The owl was rubbing his head and glaring at the dog and the dog came back with a mocking air.

"Are you to quite done?" The Hawk anbu spoke for the first time since the sand's arrival. Silence was all that answered him. "Let's go." Everyone started to exit but the two sand nin.

"Temari," She looked at her companion and put up her mask. "We have to be careful I am not going to have any Leaf nins deaths on my conscious because they decided to help us." A sad smile could be seen behind her mask as she realized that he would always care for the Leaf. The reproach she had felt for this mission had doubled. In the back of her mind she knew that she couldn't let the Leaf find out who Karma really was. If they found out she feared that they may just convince him to stay, and then what would happen to their friendship? Would it become nothing more than a hello and goodbye? She visible shuck her head as she tried to clear those thoughts from her mind. There was no way he would ever come back to this village even if they offered him a place. He was not truly happy at Leaf, sure he had put on the smile but he had been arrogant thinking that the smile would solve everything. By the time he reached leaf it took him weeks to even hint at a smile and when he finally smiled Garra smiled for him. Hell everyone smiled for him realizing that he was truly happy. Temari was brought out of her daze and looked at her surroundings, she hadn't even realized she had left the Hokage's office. As she looked around she noticed the gold colored was with a single crimson stripe through it. She also noticed the fluffy crimson carpet. She noticed that there were two doors in the room; one to her left and one straight ahead of her. She looked for her partner and saw him leaning against the redwood cabinet. His eyes had an annoyed glint to them as he seemed to be watching something behind Temari. She turned around and was shocked; two of the Anbu seemed to be in some sort of fight. The bear masked Anbu had a hold of the dog masked Anbu's hair and had forced him down to his knees. The Hawk had been circling the two Anbu. Temari looked closer and realized she could not see any shock written on any of his body movements. Maybe this happens a lot? She thought to herself.

A burst of chakra stopped the quarrelling two as Karma stood to his full height. A pissed off look could be seen from his eyes, his partner had on a serious face. He stepped towards the group his steps were determined. He stopped walking when he reached the Hawk, he started to channel some of his anger into his voice. "We need to get a couple of things clear." A glaring match was started as the Karma continued, knowing he had the Hawks attention. "I don't give a damn about any ritual you perform before you go out on a mission." He indicated to the two who had been fighting. "You guys are going to finish selecting your weapons and then we are going to head towards Suna." Some of the Anbu started to get into the redwood cabinet he had been leaning on earlier. "I will not tolerate you fools wasting the time of my country."

"What makes you think that you can order us around." The hawk shot back as he continued the glaring match.

"Do want to get caught and end up dieing or worse bringing your village into a full on war with unknown enemies?" The Hawk looked away and went to the cabinet, knowing full well the true meaning of that sentence. "I thought so."

A/N sorry about the short chapter….School's out so the chapters will be coming out quicker….Oh yah and I want three new reviews before I post the next chapter..


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Departure

A/N so I only got two of the three reviews but the way I look at it is that I at least got something. However I would really appreciate if some of you would click the little button at the end of the chapter and then type a few little words. So yah, and thanks to those two who did review. Wow that was a long note.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…..damn…………..

After gathering the weapons they were going to use the group headed out of the village. With their chakra down to a minimum they raced over roof tops and villagers the Anbu quickly made their way to the village wall. They made their way over the wall and out of the village without any problems. The group starting to speed up until they reached the forest. Temari quickly halted on a branch as they reached the forest, the others stopped on the same branch and glanced back over at their village. The leaf Anbu silently nodded their heads at the village before turning their attention towards Karma.

Karma watched silently as the leaf bid farewell to their village. They have a fierce loyalty to their village and would do anything for it. To think I once thought the same of this village, and a part of me may still. He frowned slightly as he looked at the mighty village. The appearance was a deadly beauty, or a sleeping beast. The Leaf has not ravage by a war in a few years and that could be viewed by their appearance. The merchants were trickling into the village with their one of kind artifacts. His gaze left the village and shot to the ones that were going to help his village. "It took us a day to reach your village, but we ran to our max and beyond. However we are going to travel a little bit slower than what it took us to reach here. This is due to the fact that there is an army waiting for us at our destination so I suggest that you all conserve as much chakra as you can. We are going to reach sand in a day and a half." Karma finished what he was saying and waited for any questions.

"How bad was it when you left?" This came from the owl anbu concern was in his voice. Temari realized that the owl shot the question at her waiting for her to answer. It seems Shikamaru hasn't changed a whole hell of a lot.Then she remembered he had visited sand many times and most likely had some personal ties to sand.

"It's bad off, most of the dead were our nins, we didn't expect them to attack and were caught off guard." Temari kept her eyes focused on the owl anbu as she said that.

"I thinks it is time we be going any of the other questions can be asked when we set up camp for the night." The fox anbu took off into the forest heading towards his village he was closely followed by the other sand anbu and the leaf.

The fox leapt from tree to tree as his partner quickly caught up to him. Temari noticed how determined he had become and decided not to tell him to slow down a little bit. The Leaf would regain most of the energy that they lost today when they set up camp. However Temari knew that she didn't have endless chakra and took out a soldier pill and popped it into her mouth. This would help her regain some of the chakra she wasted earlier. She hoped her partner was paying any attention to what she was doing. However her hopes were killed when her partners voice cut over the silent radio.

"Are you okay?" A semi concerned voice asked in her ear.

"Fine, don't worry about me," The last part was emphasized as a message to drop the subject.

Karma didn't push the subject knowing that it would gain the leaf nins attention and then they might want to stop. His village couldn't afford it and if Temari was in any serious trouble she would have let him know. So his thoughts went back to where they were going to set up camp. He had an idea of a general area that they were going to set up camp, but he had to make sure the area was still safe. So he had started to speed up in hopes that the others wouldn't and he would eventual leave them behind and Temari would lead them to the area of the camp. He wanted to search the area and be sure that they wouldn't be surprised during the middle of the night. So he speed up again trusting that Temari would get the idea that he wanted to check the area. He noticed that she didn't speed up when he did but the rest of the nins did. "I ordered you to conserve your energy." His voice was stern when it sounded over the radio.

"The leader should set an example for the rest of the pack." Replied the Dog masked Anbu.

"The pack should follow the leaders orders." The Hawk stated to the Dog Anbu.

Karma realized that at least some of the leaf nins knew what he was doing and they weren't having a real big problem with it. So he speed up more and soon left their immediate area.

A/N so there you all go I want two more reviews the sooner I get these two reviews the sooner I update.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Setting up Camp

A/N Hey thanks for the reviews, so as promised here is number 6 hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Authoress sighs and looks to left I don't own Naruto. Three men wearing black suits leave the room.

Chapter Start

Karma took off towards their future campsite. He moved with a speed unknown to many as he reached the site in a few minutes instead of the hour that it would take the rest of the group. He landed in what appeared to be an extremely thick part of the forest. He started to search for other chakra signals and only found the signals of his companions. He shook his head as he looked around at the mess of tree branches. This might take a little while. He walked for a few moments and stopped beside a fairly tall tree. He bent down to the base of the tree and felt a deep knick in one of the trees roots. Jumping to the first branch he landed with perfect balance and the branch supported his full weight without bowing. Counting silently in his head he continued to jump to each of the trees branches until he reached a branch that was about ¾ of the way up the tree. Slowly walking across the branch keeping his balance he touched the main part of the tree. The trees column appeared like any of the other parts of the trees but he continued to touch the tree. He suddenly took out a needle and dragged it over the palm of his left hand letting the blood flow freely. Slightly charging his right hand with chakra he slammed both of his hands into the tree. Let's hope sensei didn't put to many traps inside.

The area around where Karma slammed his palms into began to fade, and reveal a hollowed opening into the tree. Aware that he could have screwed up the dispelling jutsu he cautiously stepped inside. A fire sprang to life as he took his first step inside of the tree. The fire gave an eerie light to the items within the room. Karma took a look around the room and noticed that not much had changed. A worn chair was seated next to the fire place that gave light to the room. He shook his head as he remembered the first time he saw the fireplace. Damn old man and his fire tricks. Karma walked over to the fire and pasted his hand through it. The fire provided heat and light but was not truly real. It was a jutsu that his old sensei had come up with just for this place. With his thoughts temporarily off course he looked around the rest of the room. A bookcase piled with scrolls set in the corner of the room next to a small cabinet. The cabinet was above a small black sink. The room appeared cluttered with trinkets on all of the counters. Yet it also appeared to be organized in a strange way. He realized that he hadn't been checking thoroughly for traps so he began his search of the room for the traps and found none.

Glad that he hadn't faced any trouble on his way here and while he was in the large room he began to clear up some of clutter so he could put down his belongings on one of the tables. After he put his stuff down he searched for Temari's chakra signal and found in less than twenty minutes away. Decisions now faced him; whether he would go to them and lead them here or let them find their own way here. He knew that Temari didn't exactly know where they were going to set up camp but she knew the general area. He had decided that he would find the pans and then go and meet the group. With that information he began to dig a few pans out of one of the cabinets and set them in front of the fire. He then raced out of the tree room unto the branch, he turned to the hole that he had just come out of and placed an illusion over it. With that he dropped down to the ground and headed towards his group.

Temari had lead the group for the last hour towards the place that Karma had planned that campsite would be at. A nagging sensation was pulling at the back of her head. She knew what it was and tried to push it down; worry about what could happen to Karma. Karma was the only one of her precious people from sand that she knew was safe and now that he was no longer with her she began to worry. Her worries were quickly soothed when she saw him waiting in a small clearing for them. She unconsciously speed up and so did the leaf nins. It took only a few moments before they reached him.

"The camp is with in a few minutes of our current position," Karma stated as a smile reached his lips. Even though a war was waging a few hours away at the place he know called home he was happy. A happy that could be attributed to the fact that he was spending a night at one of the few places that he had felt carefree.

"Well can we hurry up and go there?" The dog anbu asked Karma with an impatient tone.

In an answer Karma took off towards the room with the others hot on his tail. Soon they all stood before the illusion of a solid tree, no one was truly shocked when Karma walked straight through it. They all followed him in and ended up a large room. The leaf began to look around checking for any traps, while Temari went and set down on the chair next to the fire. She looked around the room with curious and humorous eyes as she imagined Karma living in this place.  
"Are you always impatient?" Karma asked while walking up to dog anbu.

Before he could answer wolf anbu who had been keeping silent the whole time spoke up. "He isn't always impatient." The voice was female and she seemed to be considering her words wisely. "Well at least not with most nins, but sometimes he will find a nin that he can view as his rival." Done with her explanation she began to set up a bed in the middle of the room next to a few of her companions.

"So you view me as a rival?" The Fox anbu asked with a humorous voice, and then he turned towards Temari. "The list keeps getting longer. I can't wait to tell Garra that I got a new rival just because he sent me to Kohona. He is going to find this funny in some twisted part of his mind. Most of those fools back home consider me a rival just because Garra told them if they can beat me he will make them the knew Anbu Captain." He began to set up his bed and after he was done he sat down on top of it.

"That's only because you died his sand gourd pink." The leaf began to pay more attention to the conversation that had been going on. They began to picture a crazed Garra and began to feel a little sorry for the fox sand member.

"I will take first watch," The Hawk Anbu wanted to get this damn mission and knew he couldn't do that by listening to the sands stories. So he began to get up, but was stopped by the Tiger Anbu.

"Can we take our masks off now?" The Hawk shook his head in a clear no and the Tiger began to pout. "But I hate to sleep in them, pretty please."

"Go ahead it's safe in here there isn't a lot of a risk that someone besides us will she you." Karma stated while looking at the fire instead of the Tiger Anbu. "Just make sure to have them on when you go out for your watch." The Tiger Anbu nodded and began to take off her mask. As Karma looked around he noticed that the rest of the leaf besides the Hawk had taken off their mask. He realized his mistake as he saw that Temari was taking her mask off too.

"Why aren't you taking off your mask?" Came the question from one of the Leaf anbu.

A/N I kind of screwed this chapter up a bit. I was trying to get this chapter ready to be posted for you all of those who have reviewed especially those who reviewed the last chapter. I am going to try to post two chapters before the end of may, but I don't know when they are going to be posted because my birthday is May 30 and it is starting to get a little hectic….SO thanks for reading this chapter and I hope you all will review….pwetty please with cherries on top?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Who's the Missing Nin?

A/N So here is the next chapter thank you to all of the reviewers. Especially those who have given me their thoughts on the story I would love to hear what you guys think is going to happen.

Damn it all, these Anbu aren't going to let me off with a simple 'because I don't feel like taking it off.' Karma remembered the looks he got when he was in the Hokage's office, it was like the Leaf were trying to look straight through his mask. He hadn't liked that feeling and he was starting to feel it now. It was an anxious feeling that told him everyone in the room was waiting for his answer. Few people have seen what lies beneath this mask since it was put on. With that thought he crossed to the door and answered the question that had been left in the air waiting.

"Because my dear Leaf I want two people on each guard duty and I will be the other person on first watch." The room grew quiet as the Sand Fox had walked out of the room into the forest. The Hawk seemed to glare at the empty space he had left behind, and then seemingly tired of glaring at nothing followed the other Hunter nin's example and walked out into the forest.

"Well that was troublesome," The man who had been wearing the owl mask stated, before he received a whack on his head from the girl who had been wearing the tiger mask. He then starting to back away, hoping that he was only going to receive one slap.

"Shikamaru stop being so damn lazy!" The blonde headed girl announced while stalking the man around the room. "It's unattractive," The girl finally stated when she cornered him.

Temari sighed as she watched the display remembering a time when she used to hit the Shikamaru every time he had said troublesome. Good times, Good times, at least it got out some pent up aggression. Continuing to watch the display she began to wonder about how easily the genius of a partner she had been caught up in his own web. Even though Karma appeared to be one of the genius' of the Sand Village he stilled showed some of his rash thinking skills. The thinking skills that he had gained in the Leaf village and those skills seemed to becoming more and more apparent as the mission wore on. She began to think it had nothing to do with Sand being under attack, but being so close to his former friends.

With Karma

Karma was sitting in a branch a few trees over from where there camp was set up. I almost slipped up just now, A pain shot through his palm as he began to squeeze his fingernails into it. I have to remember not to do that again. Embracing the small amount of pain he leaned his head against the column of the tree and closed his eyes. The weight at the end of the branch sank down a little as the Hawk anbu appeared. Karma peaked open one of his eyes and stared into the glaring eyes of the other nin.  
"What's your problem?" He asked with a calm voice.

"Those are my nins in there and I don't need you to undermine a decision that directly concerns the welfare of them and my village." The hawk stated while looking down at the fox.

"Do you really care for your village that much that you would challenge my authority over me telling the other nins to take their masks off?" The Fox challenged. When he finished his statement he slid down to the ground below the tree, knowing that the other nin would soon follow. When the Hawk dropped down on the ground next to him he continued. "Besides it wasn't fair for my partner to have them know her identity and not know theirs."

"Then why didn't you take off your mask as well?" The hawk asked innocently.

Walking over to lean against one of the trees he continued. "Because there are some things that should remain unseen."

"Is your face so horrible that you won't show it to anyone for fear of rejection?" The Hawk inquired while mirroring the fox's movements.

"No, however I like to keep things private and not announce it to the world." Karma stated in a deadly calm voice, while gazing unflinchingly into the Hawks eyes.

"Then maybe you are a missing nin," Before Karma could interrupt him, the Hawk continued. "From one of our enemy villages, or even from my home village Kohona."

Becoming impatient with this interrogation Karma interrupted the Hawk before he could continue. "What's stopping me from calling you a missing nin from sand? You could have easily stayed behind with your colleagues for a few minutes just enough time for Temari to see your face. However you choose to come straight out here just like me. So you could very well be a missing nin from Sand hiding under a Leafs identity."

"If I was a missing nin from Sand do you believe I would have confronted you about you being a missing nin?" The Hawk questioned and waited for an answer from the other man.

"Then tell me old wise one which village you think I am from." Karma started to play wise ass with the Hawk knowing that he may have very well fallen into a trap. However there was always a way to fix things and Karma happened to be one of the best at mind altering jutsus.

A/N So this chapter was really more of a conformation between two of the characters instead of revealing who was behind the masks. But I promise next time you will know who is behind which mask. The next update will hopefully be up on my birthday early in the morning. Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

-Roxanne


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Recap:

"Then tell me old wise one which village you think I am from."

Start

The Hawk quickly spared a glance around the surrounding area. Nothing seemed to be out of place, just nature being nature, but the picture could be deceiving. Their camp rested high above their heads nestled in the trees.

"Quite simple really," The Hawk stated while drawing a kunai from his pocket. "You're from leaf." With that he threw the kunai at Karma, who in turn dodged it.

"You don't even stop to ask questions do you?" For the Hawk's answer he threw more kunai at Karma who had began to develop a simple pattern of avoiding them. Neither fighter were getting serious do to the fact that there could be enemy ninja around and they were suppose to be allies. It looked more like the Hawk was trying to tests the Fox's abilities. . It didn't take but a minute for Karma to get bored, so he decided to spice up the little test a bit. He started doing hand seals, hand seals that were all too familiar to the Hawk. "Shadow clone jutsu !" ten fox masked clones appeared on the battle field.

The Hawk Anbu who was getting ready to throw chakra enhanced needles quickly pocketed them but stayed in a fighting position as he realized what move had been performed. The Fox had taken advantage of the Leaf Anbu's hesitation and silently ordered his clones to circle the Hawk. "I haven't seen that jutsu used in a few years," The Hawk stated as he started to play with a kunai that had materialize in his hand. "There are few ninja out there who can even use this jutsu." The Hawk stated as he began to throw kunai at the clones, each one disappearing into a puff of smoke when the weapon pierced their heart. Soon a lone Fox Anbu remained, the Hawk still had a kunai in his hand. "I Guess I should welcome you back Naruto." With that he released the kunai. Within seconds the kunai struck home, but in the place of Karma a log dropped to the ground. "

"What the hell type of welcome is that?" Naruto asked as he jumped from a tree limb to the ground in front of the Hawk.

"It's the type of welcome a missing-nin gets." The Hawk stated as he reached to take his mask off. "It's also the type of welcome that someone gets when they have been gone five years." A pale eyed man who had long bluish hair stated while glaring at Naruto.

"So they really marked me as a missing nin?" Naruto asked not removing his mask. "How long did that take?"

"A week after your mission's deadline and that was with the protesting of your friends, but I guess we really shouldn't consider ourselves friends should we?" Neji asked with a cold voice all the while watching Naruto as he went to lean against a tree's trunk.

"We were friends at the time of my departure, but a lot has changed since that time." Naruto stated with a sigh.

"If we were friends then you would have stayed behind and not left. Everyone's friendship would have held you to Kohona Naruto, but now it seems that you are nothing but a traitor to the Leaf." Neji stated the cold hard truth and part of him hated it, he wished that Naruto had a good reason to leave. A reason that the counsel wouldn't kill him for, but Neji learned the hard way that wishes weren't for ninja.

"So now that you have come to the conclusion that I am nothing but a traitor I have a question for you." Naruto asked with an emotionless voice that didn't fit the conversation they were having. "Are you going to take me back to Kohona now or after the mission? If you take me back to Kohona now, you would have to fight me. However I am not saying that I will kill you, but I will do anything to protect Suna."

"And what happens if I take you back afterwards?" Neji asked despite the fact that he had already decided what he was going to do.

"Well I've already been ordered to go back to Kohona after this mess is over with." Naruto stated as he watched Neji warily, knowing that the next few days was going to be very tiring.

A/N Sorry that this chapter is so late…by like a month….and it wasn't as good as it should have been…but I have updated…..and hopefully I can start typing the fighting scenes pretty quick…well anyways…FORGIVE ME!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I will never own Naruto….

"So what are you going to do Neji?" Naruto asked in an indifferent voice.

"I can't risk canceling the mission just because a nuke nin appears, especially if the nin is going to help me with my mission." The air around Neji and Naruto grew less tense as Neji replied to Naruto. "However the moment this mission is over you are returning to Kohona one way or another." Neji stated as he glared at Naruto who simple shrugged it off.

"That should be interesting considering that we will be on my home turf." Naruto stated as he looked up at the moon noticing for the first time that night it was full. 'It's almost time to switch lookouts.' "I have one thing to ask of you Neji."

Neji had a pretty good idea of what it was. "You are in no position to ask anything of me."

"Oh but this request benefit both of us, and it's quite simple. All you have to do is keep quiet about this whole incident until this mission is over with."

"How would this benefit me?"

"If we go back to camp right now and you tell them who I am, then a few of them might do something to jeopardize this mission. Suna is too important to me, to have any of those fools up there screwing up this mission." Naruto began to head back up to the camp hidden within the trees.

Neji readjusted his mask and began to follow Naruto knowing how hard his decision was. He would be keeping a rather big secret from his comrades and friends, and for what? So he could help save Suna, but his friends had been waiting for years on word about Naruto and none came. 'Damn it all.' He quickly entered their temporary camp, and sat down near the door. He watched as the Owl and Tiger masked leaf nins left out the entrance with a brief nod in his direction. Neji glanced around the room and noticed that all of the nins besides himself seemed to be asleep with their masks lying next to their heads. Lee and Kiba had laid their sleeping mats next to each other in the center of the room. Kiba was tangled up in his blankets where as Lee was laid on his side peacefully. TenTen seemed to have spaced herself out quite a number of feet away from the two. Nestled safely in her covers Neji noticed a kunai pack close to her left hand. Lastly he saw where the Sand nin stationed themselves. Temari was curled up next to the fire, her face completely relaxed. The Hawk chuckled inwardly knowing that it was probably the complete opposite. Naruto was sitting next to her leaning against the frame of the fire place. His face mask was still firmly in place; the cold blue eyes that looked out from behind the mask seemed to watch his ever move. Neji began setting up his bed for the night; it wasn't that hard all he had to do was roll out his sleeping bag. His fingers went up to take his mask off of his face. After it was off he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to have it rest against the wall behind him. Thoughts circled around his head untamed, but most of them involved the sudden appearance of Naruto. One memory grabbed his full attention.

_Flashback _

An 18 year old Neji had been throwing kunai at the same tree for the last hour, 'Damn it, why wasn't I ready?' In the last hour the tree had lost a majority of its bark to his kunai. Earlier that day Neji had taken on an A class mission, a bodyguard duty to a political ambassador. Of course he had been warned about the numerous assassins that would be going after the guy, but he didn't really care. 'Maybe I should have cared; both Lee and the ambassador are in the hospital.' Ignoring the pain in his right arm where a kunai had been lodged in his arm during the fight he kept on mutilating the tree in front of him. 'I'm going to have to have Hinata look at that later, it's nothing serious but it keeps shooting pain threw my arm and the fight was this morning.' He tossed another kunai at the tree, but this time he put a little chakra in it. That caused the kunai to go in one side of the tree and out the other. "I was the Rookie of my year and I still failed." Not realizing he had spoken aloud he launched another set of kunai.

"You may have been Rookie of the Year, but you saved your fellow ninja's life and still tried to accomplish the mission." Neji abruptly turned, cursing himself for not noticing the other teen's presence.

"Naruto I wish to be alone right now." Neji commented back to Naruto letting some of his killer intent leach into his voice.

"Does it look like I care?" Naruto asked while advancing towards Neji. "I'm not going to let you wallow in self pity over something like this, especially when no one was killed." Naruto stopped a yard away from Neji. "Do you realize how lucky you were? Those were mercenaries that were after the ambassador."

"Naruto are you done yet?" Neji asked in an emotionless voice. Neji had known that Naruto was trying to bring him out of his mood, but he wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"You don't want me to talk, fine." Naruto jumped a few yards backwards a dropped into a fighting stance. "Then how about a friendly spar?" Naruto plastered a goofy grin on his face.

Neji smirked realizing that Naruto had just given the perfect chance to let off some steam. "What are the rules?" He questioned as he got ready to fight. At that moment a burst of pain decided to shoot through his arm. Neji hadn't been prepared for it and let the pain show on his face before quickly covering it up. Looking at Naruto he immediately noticed the concern on his face. 'Shit he saw.'

"I guess we are going to have to take a rain check on that fight," Naruto announced as he approached Neji. "Let me see the wound."

Following his order Neji rolled his fishnet sleeve up and revealed his bandaged arm. Naruto began to pick at the wound, making Neji extremely impatient with the invasion of his personal bubble. Soon Naruto looked up at Neji with a seriousness that had seemed to be gracing his features more often than not. "It has a small trace amount of poison in it. We should go see Sakura right now." Neji nodded his head at Naruto.

"Looks like you're taking care of someone else's inability to take care of themselves." Neji commented while smirking, knowing that he could wipe the controlled seriousness off of Naruto's face.

"Yah I guess so," Neji watched as Naruto choose to ignore his friendly jab. The two set off towards Kohona at equal speeds. Neji had almost missed Naruto's last comment that seemed to be carried on the wind. "But you guess won't have to for much longer.

End Flashback

Lying down in his bed Neji glanced over at Naruto, who was still sitting next to Temari. "We never did have that spar," Surprise flickered through Naruto's blue eyes. Instead of continuing the conversation Neji rested his eyes and waited for dawn.

'He still remembers, funny I hardly remembered that myself.' Naruto thought to himself as he looked down at Temari, as if sensing his glance she stirred in her sleep. He had learned one to many times that Temari may look like she was asleep but could just as easy put a kunai to your throat with that thought he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, waiting for the time to pass by.

With Ino and Shikamaru

Ino had replaced her Tiger mask and was sitting on a lower level branch, where as Shikamaru was leaning against the trunk of the same tree quietly observing the terrain. They had already been out there for thirty minutes with out any interference from enemy nins, and Shikamaru wanted to scout the rest of the surrounding area. However he would have to tell Ino what he was doing and that would be too troublesome. So instead he was leaning against the trees thinking about Sand Fox. The guy was a mystery and despite Shikamaru's lazy attitude he wanted to figure out who exactly this guy was. At most times Karma seemed to be cold, but others especially when he was around Temari he let that cold shell break a little. Before Shikamaru could continue his thoughts Ino appeared before him.

"We need to scout out the rest of the area," Ino stated while looking around her. The forest seemed to get denser in the darkness, but that was part of the illusion of night.

"Let's stick together though and just scout out a small circle."

"Alright I just want to at least do something instead of just sitting there." Ino stated while glancing at Shikamaru. For an answer he took off towards the east and she followed. Adrenaline was starting to go through her body. Ino loved scouting out an area never knowing what she was going to find.

The two jumped rapidly from the trees scouting out the area below and above them. Shikamaru was inwardly thankful that Ino had suggested it, because it gave him something to do. However he wanted her to stick close to him just like she was, they where close to sand and some of those attacking nins could be waiting in the forest.

The Owl and Tiger masked Anbu had scouted a small portion of the surrounding area and were turning back when they noticed a chakra signal pretty close to where they were.

Chapter End

K that was the chapter, it was longer then the past ones, but still not really long. I'm working on it though .


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It's been a while, and I am sorry to you guys about it. Especially when I told you guys it would be up by a certain time and it wasn't because certain things came up. But hey I'm back and I'm ready to write.

**Of Allies and Enemies**

** Chapter Start **

"Tiger report to base camp and inform the others of this troublesome development." The Owl stated as he headed towards the chakra signal. However he was stopped when a kunai was thrown right in front of him, and became lodged in the dirt.

"I don't think either of you will be going anywhere, anytime soon." A voice stated from the shadows as he and a two more ninja jumped down from the tree to land in a triangle formation surrounding Ino and Shikamaru.

"Chh…Troublesome." The Owl grunted however he quickly gauged the situation that he. _I think I will do some cloud watching when I get back to Kohona. This mission is starting to prove extremely troublesome._

"Look what we caught boys," The one that spoke before spoke again. "Is this all the mighty Kohona could spare."

"It looks like it Kira, I mean there even to afraid to show their faces to the rest of the world." The enemy with orange hair announced. Ino looked at the man and shook her head slightly in disappointment. _I was actually hoping for a real fight not a damn play date. But it will be fun to mess with them._

"Owl I really don't think these guys are smart I mean trying to take on some of the best of Kohona." The Tiger continued her rant seeing that the one with orange hair was giving her a funny look. "I mean they don't seem to have a whole lot up there you know what I mean, or maybe not a whole lot down there. Whatever it is it's screwed them up pretty bad."

"Your right about that, if they were told to keep an eye out for Kohona nin you would think that they might have the slightest idea of what we are capable of." Shikamaru stated while he pulled three kunai from his pocket each with an exploding tag on them. The three enemy ninja seemed to have noticed this and dropped into battle ready positions.

Ino smirked realizing that the kunai that Shikamaru had were just fake exploding tags, well all of them except one was a fake but they didn't need to know that. She quickly brought her thumb up to her mouth and drew blood and at the same time Shikamaru threw the first kunai with great accuracy; the enemy was shocked that nothing happened to it when it became lodged in his thigh. Kira reached down for it and in one powerful jerk the kunai came out and he didn't even wince.

"What was that suppose to do scare us into surrendering?" He laughed and retreated into the darkness using it to his advantage.

However the moment he was gone Shikamaru threw the other two and they both hit with precision, even with the victims trying to evade them. Only this time instead of just the silence of two grunts, there was an explosion and a scream. That was not the end of it however as Ino took her bloodied thumb and smeared in across a scroll that was laid open on top of her other palm. A six foot long chain whip appeared from the scroll; Ino quickly replaced the scroll in her pocket for later use. She now smirked to herself as she eyeballed the slight movement on the outer edge of her field of vision. _Shikamaru can take care of the others, but I want to use this one as target practice._ Her thoughts were interrupted as a voice came over her headset.

"Don't go too far, I still want to be able to be at your side quickly if you need help." Shikamaru waited a few seconds for a response and received none. "Alright Ino?"

"Yes, Ino out." She looked back before she left and discovered that shikamaru was now in hand to hand combat with the enemy. She quickly scanned for the other one and noticed that he seemed to be missing an arm and was currently unconscious. With that she left to see about her prey, and she hoped that he put up a good fight when she found him.

…**.Chapter End….**

And that's it for the moment; I will try to get better at updating it's just kind of hard right now. Thanks to all of you that stuck around and decided to read this chapter. Even though I think half of you guys are probably like we waited two fucking months for that.


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